A cell culture system including a silk fibroid scaffold, culture media, and salivary gland cells. The salivary gland cells grown in the tissue culture system have physiological and morphological features like those of in vivo salivary gland cells. The cell culture system can be used to produce a salivary tissue-specific extracellular matrix capable of inducing differentiation of salivary gland cell precursors into salivary gland cells.